Jake Gyllenhaal to Reteam With Denis Villeneuve for ‘The Son’

Gyllenhaal previously collaborated with the French Canadian filmmaker for thrillers Prisoners and Enemy. Now the two are working together again for crime thriller The Son, which will be produced by Gyllenhaal’s company Nine Stories with his producing partner Riva Marker. An adaptation of Jo Nesbo’s 2015 crime novel of the same name, the film will follow a man who was wrongly imprisoned for half his life following the suicide of his father. Here’s the full synopsis from the press release:

‘The Son’ follows the life of Sonny Lofthus, a once gifted 15-year-old and promising wrestler, whose downward spiral ensues when his cop father commits suicide. For the past twelve years, Sonny’s time in prison has been nurtured by an uninterrupted supply of heroin from a seedy chaplain on the inside. When Sonny learns long-hidden truths about his father’s unexpected death, he makes a brilliant escape and begins hunting down the people responsible for his wrongful sentence.

Such heavy source material seems fitting for Villeneuve, who’s proven himself a master of creating tension and suspense around morally complex protagonists and tragic family secrets – anyone who’s seen Incendies knows how well the filmmaker captures the trauma of uncovering harrowing secrets.

It’s also exciting to learn the filmmaker is sticking to character-based thrillers even after branching out into new territory with his upcoming sci-fi film Story of Your Life, starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. The director is also helming the new Blade Runner sequel with Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and cinematographer Roger Deakins. Fingers crosses Deakins lends his eye to The Son as well.